Now, for the first time, the remarkable story of the oldest and most influential monastery in America (150 years old in 1998) is available to the public. The book is richly illustrated in full color with treasures from the abbey’s archives.

Subtitled "A Week Inside a Catholic Monastery" Aprile offers a personal encounter with daily life inside the Abbey of Gethsemani. It is the perfect preparation for one's first retreat experience. Also included is a guide to other monastic places in North America and a detailed glossary.

This book reveals how the lives of two medieval saints from Assisi--Francis and Clare--helped to transform the author’s life as a thoroughly modern cynic. An inspiration for anyone seeking spiritual transformation.

Hardback

$29.95

TRAPPIST/ LIVING IN THE LAND OF DESIRE

Downey, Michael

A beautiful photographic book of the Cistercian community at Mepkin Abbey in South Carolina. The author explores the elements that shape Trappist life-- work, prayer, worship, community, etc. Also available in a VHS Video for $30.00.

Subtitled, Experiencing the Spirituality of the Great Cathedrals, this book combines both meditation and Christian art. The author takes readers on a spiritual pilgrimage through the greatest marvels of the Christian world.

Labrie examines writings in the United States that meet three criteria: high intellectual and artistic achievement, authorship by a practicing Roman Catholic, and a focus on Catholic themes. Among the thirteen writers are: Orestes Brownson, Paul Horgan, Thomas Merton, Robert Lowell, Flannery O'Connor, and Mary Gordon.

This book is a collection of passages from lectures delivered by the Dalai Lama. The teacher who speaks here is not the Buddhist philosopher, not the head of state of the Tibetan people, but the spiritual friend, the one with a sharp, compassionate, and humorous understanding of the human condition. The Dalai Lama answers our concerns about the source of our anxieties, our limitations, the problem of death, and the deepest responsibilities of our lives.

Poems John of the Cross wrote while he was imprisoned for his dedication to the teachings of Teresa of Avila. This edition offers a dual Spanish/English text, and is accompanied by illustrations based on famous Spanish paintings of the Renaissance.

Following the theme of his previous study of the JFK assassination, Douglass shows how those who conspired to kill Gandhi hoped to destroy a compelling vision of peace, nonviolence, and reconciliation. In tracing the story of Gandhi’s early “experiments with truth” in South Africa, Douglass shows how Gandhi had early on confronted and overcome the fear of death. And, as with the case of JFK’s death, he shows why this story matters today: what we can learn from Gandhi’s truth and its opposition to the powers of his time.

Included in this book are short meditations on the Gospel of Matthew and an invitation to learn the centering prayer. It is perfect for personal or prayer-group study or as a companion reader to the Gospel of Matthew.

The cup, a powerful image in the human experience, a symbol used to celebrate a wide range of human endeavors, becomes for Nouwen a doorway opening on the spiritual horizon. An introduction to the spiritual life.

The subtitle of this book is A Guide for Cultivating Depth and Sacredness in Everyday Life. Moore enters into the mysteries of the soul in an effort not to solve the puzzle of life but to appreciate what human life and culture can be.

Written by an anonymous English monk during the late 14th century this book puts forth a method of contemplation that stresses the importence of the understanding to break through the cloud of unknowing that separates God and humanity. “It is love alone that can reach God in this life.”

The 30th Anniversary edition of a modern spiritual classic. At the age of 44, after a prominent career as a Catholic activist, Carretto responded to a "call" and left for North Africa where he joined the Little Brothers of Jesus and embraced the example of Charles de Foucauld. The writings of Bro Carlo remind us that in the evening of our lives we will be judged by love.

Spiritual leader and peace activist John Dear guides readers on the path to finding peace within, and bringing harmony to a world torn by hatred and violence, through following in the footsteps of Jesus.
Seen by many to be the spiritual heir to the Berrigan brothers, Dear believes that the key to the spiritual life is not just finding inner peace, but also bringing that peace to bear on the outside world. In his latest work, Dear uses the Gospel account of the Transfiguration, inviting readers to shape their lives along the story of Jesus and to continue his mission of love and peace. Dividing the lifelong pursuit of peace into three distinct parts—an inner journey, a public journey, and the journey of all humanity—he delves into the challenges of learning to love ourselves as we are, diffusing the hatred we feel toward others, and embracing the choice to live in peace.

For John Dear, a Jesuit priest and respected leader of the ecumenical peace movement, the spiritual life is a combination of contemplation and action. In this book he describes his own journey, breaking down the life of peace into three parts--an inner journey, a public journey, and the journey of all humanity. He shares the spiritual practices that have sustained him and teaches readers how to integrate these practices into their own lives.

Originally written in Middle English by an unknown mystic of the fourteenth century, The Cloud of Unknowing represents the first expression in our own tongue of the soul's quest for God. It offers a practical guide to the path of contemplation.

The author weaves the story of four writers (Thomas Merton, Dorothy Day, Flannery O'Connor and Walker Percy) as a pilgrimage as they explore the quandaries of religious faith through their writings. It is a story about the ways we look to great books and writers to help us make sense of our experience, about the power of literature to change--to save--our lives.

Paperback

$18.00

ESSENTIAL WRITINGS OF CHRISTIAN MYSTICISM

McGinn, Bernard, Edited by

This clear and comprehensive anthology, culled from the vast corpus of Christian mystical literature by the renowned theologian and historian Bernard McGinn, presents nearly one hundred selections, from the writings of Origen of Alexandria in the third century to the work of twentieth-century mystics such as Thomas Merton.
Uniquely organized by subject rather than by author, The Essential Writings of Christian Mysticism explores how human life is transformed through the search for direct contact with God. Part one examines the preparation for encountering God through biblical interpretation and prayer; the second part focuses on the mystics’ actual encounters with God; and part three addresses the implications of the mystical life, showing how mystics have been received over time, and how they practice their faith through private contemplation and public actions.

A guide to the fundamentals of Centering Prayer and how it impacts one’s life. Introduced to Centering Prayer by William Meninger, Arico provides a historical foundation, balance, insight, humor, and peace of mind based on 20 years of experience.

Dorothy Day (1897-1980), founder of the Catholic Worker movement, and one of the most prophetic voices in the American Catholic Church, has recently been proposed as a candidate for canonization. In this lavishly illustrated biography, Jim Forest provides a compelling portrait of her heroic efforts to live out the radical message of the Gospel for our time.
A journalist and social reformer in her youth, Day surprised her friends with the decision in 1927 to enter the Roman Catholic Church. In the Catholic Worker, which she launched in 1933, she found a way to combine her faith with her compelling commitment to the poor and social justice.
Drawing on Day’s recently published diaries and letters, Forest chronicles her extraordinary journey, with special stress on the unique spiritual vision that underlay her dramatic witness.

Writing from her hermitage in rural Kansas, the author's lively essays of spiritual growth and guidance reveal her to be a modern-day mystic and teach us all how to see God in all things, right where we are.

Subtitled "Conversations Toward A Buddhist-Christian Awareness". East and West flow together as the authors talks range widely over memory, death, and religion; prison and exile, war and peace, Jesus and Buddha, & communities of resistance & faith.

Moorhouse travels back 1,400 years to re-create life on Skellig Michael, home to a community of monks for over six hundred years. The author's imaginative stories not only capture a particularly intense form of monastic life, they illuminate one of the most mysterious yet important chapters of Celtic history.

This book of Fr. Matthew's includes a collection of his sermons, covering a whole range of topics pertinent to the monastic life as well as issues of concern to those beyond the monastic enclosure. It also includes a revised edition of his popular Flute Solo written while he lived as a solitary in New Guinea.

The author explores Day's spiritual roots in literature, especially the Scriptures, along with her sensibility and her aesthetic vision. The impact of Christian personalism, monasticism, and the retreat movement on her spirituality is also examined, including new material on Day's association with Thomas Merton and a critical analysis of the Lacouture retreat movement.

This book can be read as a major contribution to our understanding of Mechthild of Magdeburg, Marguerite Porete, and Meister Eckhart. It is also a major contribution to the study of women's religion in the 13th & 14th centuries. The author is informed by feminist theory as well as a thorough familiarity with late medieval religious culture.

Drawn from his homilies and talks, these 365 daily readings encapsulate the soul-searching wisdom that has made Fr. Stinissen one of the spiritual voices of our time. These meditations follow the calendar year, but also reflect the great themes and seasons of the Church year, including Lent, Easter, Advent, and Christmas.

In this hope-filled and profoundly simple book, Nouwen offers a radically fresh interpretation of modern ministry. He says ministers are called to identify the suffering in their own hearts and make that recognition the starting point of their service. He says ministers must be willing to leave themselves open as fellow human beings with the same wounds and suffering as those they serve.

This book reveals an American poet and mystic beloved in Europe yet still undiscovered by much of the world. In Georgiou's interviews with Lax life, poetry, art, grace, etc are discussed. Their conversations offer a revealing description of the man Thomas Merton said "was born with the deepest sense of who God was". The book is aptly subtitled: Spirit Lessons with Robert Lax: Poet, Peacemaker, Sage.

The writings of Hugh of Balma and Guigo de Ponte. The mysterious author "Hugh of Balma" may have influenced the fourteenth-century Cloud of Unknowning. Guigo de Porte's writings, by indirect route, influenced Ignatius of Loyola.

From Clare of Assisi to Therese of Lisieux, Flinders's portraits reveal a common foundation of conviction, courage, and serenity in the lives of these great European Catholic mystics. At its heart, this book is a living testament to how we can make peace with sorrow and disappointment and bring joy and transcendence into our lives.

Messaggero de S. Antonio says "Carretto's book on St Francis is one of the most poetic, most spiritual, and most instructive books I have read in a good while... in spite of the lapse of more than seven centuries, he succeeds in drawing for us a lesson both sweet and severe." The last section of the book comprises Praying with St Francis--A Little Divine Office composed from his words and prayers.

Paperback

$15.00

LIGHT OF THE NIGHT

Six, Jean-Francois

Subtitled, The Last Eighteen Months in the Life of Therese of Lisieux, the author re-establishes the truth of the last months of her life, her authentic spiritual message, and her contribution to the history of mysticism. In contrast to the sentimentality which is so often associated with Therese, the author has found a powerful, lively figure, full of humor even in the depths of the spiritual night she experienced during her last months.

Follow this anonymous 19th century wayfarer in his search for the answer to the one compelling question: How does one pray constantly? Finally, share in his deep joy when the search turns up unexpected treasure: the “Jesus Prayer”, handed down by generations of Orthodox believers.

Subtitled "Monastic Wisdom for Everyday Life", Wilkes distilles his search for spirituality in daily life into this book that points the way to live a rich, challening life filled with grace and faith. A book to help us all find and/or learn to create peace in our busy lives.

A prayer exploration of the faith that is needed to live with an unknowable God. The 50 meditations and prayers are rooted in the wisdom of the great mystics like Simone Weil, Henri Nouwen, and Al-Ghazzali.

This book contains a wonderful collection of scripturally-based reflections developed from the "chaper talks" delivered to the Trappistine Sisters and their guests at the Abbey of Our Lady of the Mississippi.

This is a book with 50 meditations and prayers about living a rewarding spiritual life even when God is silent--and the hope that makes it possible. It is a journey that the author invites us to take in the company of great Christian, Jewish, and Islamic mystics.

Behrens looks at events from his past in New Jersey, his twenty years as a parish priest, and his journey to becoming a Trappist monk and always finds the presence of God in his lingering memories of grace. His simple stories convey profound truths and call to mind the meaning and true purpose of life.

Underhill addresses some of the timeless themes of the spiritual life: the call of God, sanctity, inner grace, and the end for which we were made. Edited from handwritten retreats thought to have been lost.

Tuoti, a former Trappist who lived and studied with Thomas Merton, presents the traditional teachings of mysticism in a fresh way so that each of us can open ourselves to an experience of the presence of God.

"This is an extraordinary account of a man seeking inner peace and total commitment to God…a fine portrait of cloistered life, a beautifully written account of one man's soul-searching." -- Publishers Weekly

These are among the earliest of Dorothy Day’s reflections on her life as co-founder of The Catholic Worker, a newspaper and a settlement house. Kenneth Woodward of Newsweek says “She did for her era what St Francis of Assisi did for his...”

Keating demonstrataes the contemplative dimension of Christian worship. He shares the theological and mystical perspective on the major feasts of the annual cycle.

Paperback

$12.95

MYSTICAL POEMS OF RUMI 1

Arberry, A. J., Translated by

Jalal-al-Din Rumi is considered one of the great lyrical poets in any language. He is an accessible representative of Islamic civilization for Westerners. Much of his work came to him in a state of trance.

Jalal-al-Din Rumi is considered one of the great lyrical poets in any language. He is an accessible representative of Islamic civilization for Westerners. Much of his work came to him in a state of trance.

Keating gives an overview of the history of contemplative prayer in the Christian tradition and step-by-step guidance in the method of centering prayer. The reader is led to the intuitive level of contemplation.

Author provides commentaries & meditations, personal anecdotes and stories from his experience as a peace activist, teacher, and community leader. He shows us how to make positive use of the very situations that usually pressure and antagonize us.

Author draws on the greatest teachers in Christian history in order to teach us how to organize & develop the practice of daily prayer. He draws upon Origen, John Wesley, Thomas Merton, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, & many others.

In an effort to help readers expand their spiritual approach to living, the author offers an engaging examination of the Western tradition of lectio divina, the contemplative approach to the reading of sacred texts.

Everyone searching for a deep inner life will relish this new book by a spiritual master. Shannon teaches a wordless form of prayer in which the reader experiences a “silence on fire”: life aglow with the presence of God.

Juxtaposes the views of Japanese Buddhists of the Kyoto School with those of traditional Christian spirituality by focusing on the concept of Emptiness and the key theological issue of Kenosis, the process of self-emptying.

A collection of essays with a key theme of ”gratitude”. Author declares that “every sensuous experience is at heart a spiritual one: a divine revelation”. He stresses that we must listen with our hearts.

Drawing on stories from the lives of the saints, scripture, and everyday life, Forest opens up the mysteries of the Beatitudes. He says “Once learned by heart, we carry with us...a short summary of the teaching of Jesus Christ”.

In July 1996 a historic five day meeting between Buddhist & Christian monks was held at the Abbey of Gethsemani. There are 25 presentations on various aspects of spirituality by leading Buddhist & Christians as well as highlights of the actual dialogue itself.

Subtitled “Discovering the Mystic in All of Us”, this book provides fifty challenging experiences for the soul built around the core spiritual insights of ten great Western mystics (Christian, Jewish, & Islamic).

A modern translation of the 15th century classic by Thomas a Kempis. The Imitation is generally regarded as the most complete and comprehensive statement of the principles of the strong religious movement, Devotio Moderna.